Marc Sabbah – the magician of the viola

English summary of the Greek interview "Marc Sabbah – Ο μάγος της βιόλας" (The magician of the viola), published in Gala in January 2024.

Standfirst (translated): The internationally renowned virtuoso violist returns to his beloved Greece as guest soloist of the Athens State Orchestra, for a unique evening at the Megaron (Athens Concert Hall) on 12 January. 2024 begins with superb classical music.

Concert information (translated): Marc Sabbah – Athens State Orchestra, Friday 12 January 2024, 20:30, Christos Lambrakis Hall, Megaron – Athens Concert Hall.

About the interview

The four-page feature introduces Marc Sabbah as a virtuoso soloist, chamber musician, teacher, principal violist of the Belgian National Orchestra, ambassador of Jargar Strings and founding member of String Trio NOMADA, who tours the world with his beloved 1951 Leroy F. Geiger viola.

• The concert: he speaks of his joy at playing with the Athens State Orchestra under maestro Stefanos Tsialis at the Megaron, in Hummel's Potpourri for viola and orchestra – a collection of favourite melodies of the time, from Mozart and Rossini to Hummel's own, served up in twenty minutes of virtuosity.
• Greece: it is not his first visit – he has come many times as a musician and as a tourist, loves the food, the language and the music, and grew up listening to Greek singers his father brought home from a trip in the late 1960s.
• Becoming a musician: a childhood accident at eleven, when he broke a finger, made him realise how much music meant to him. He started the violin at three, envied his sister's cello, and switched to the viola when his school needed violists and offered a free instrument and lessons.
• Two continents: living in Belgium, he still carries a piece of America with him and feels like a citizen of the world.
• Other music: in high school he played electric guitar in a rock band; today he would like to explore jazz, Carnatic music from India and Balkan traditions.
• AppassionAlto: the album title combines appassionato and alto; a romantic programme for viola and piano that is at once introverted and extroverted.

The Greek news site protothema.gr presented this issue of Gala on 3 January 2024, describing Marc Sabbah as "the rising star … able to bring out every obvious or invisible virtue of the viola in the most vivid way".